Zoning issue!!

[Blueberry]

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have been on here and I am wanting some advise. My partner and myself put a 20’ yurt in our back yard while we rented out the house to my sister. We have lived in it full time for 3 years now. Yesterday we got a message in the mail from our county plan commission stating that we are in violation of the “joint zoning ordinance”. They go on to say give them a call so we can discuss the matter further and to come up with an amicable time line for removal. Failure to respond shall result in further legal action.

To point out the obvious we didn’t not contact anyone to get approval to put the yurt up. We thought asking for forgiveness was easier then permission. Our idea was to put it up and work out the kinks before we put it on a different piece of property. We are in northwest Indiana. So my question is.. does anyone know of any loop holes to the system, such as the log cabin rule? We would really like to stay out here for another year or two! We have been calling some lawyers to get advise as well. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!